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Greg Wyshynski
The rise of the salary cap changes everything in the NHL.
On Jan. 31, the league and the NHLPA announced an agreement to create “increased predictability” about the salary cap over the next three seasons, provided there’s a new collective bargaining agreement beyond the 2025-26 season. The upper limits for the cap are projected as:
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2025-26: $95.5 million
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2026-27: $104 million
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2027-28: $113.5 million
It’s a shrewd negotiating tactic, giving the players a sense of the league’s prosperity and their own future earning potential under a skyrocketing cap. But it also materially changed how teams could approach the March 7 NHL trade deadline.
“I think this is going to be an interesting deadline. Everybody’s like, ‘We’re going to have money next year.’ So I wonder if you might see some actual contracts move,” one NHL team executive said. “I think teams might be looking at free agency this summer and wondering what they’re actually going to get out of it. So maybe they’re willing to trade for Seth Jones or something at the deadline.”
With that salary cap bump on the horizon, here’s a look at the players who could move before the NHL trade deadline on March 7 at 3 p.m. ET, from the shocking possibilities to the pending free agents to the players with low-cost contracts who could be the difference in winning the Stanley Cup.
This list was compiled through conversations with league executives and other sources, as well as media reports. ESPN insiders Kevin Weekes and Emily Kaplan added their input in its creation. Salary figures are from Cap Wages and PuckPedia.
Let’s begin with the biggest names.
Shocking possibilities tier
Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers
Seth Jones, D, Chicago Blackhawks
Erik Karlsson, D, Pittsburgh Penguins
Chris Kreider, LW, New York Rangers
Brad Marchand, LW, Boston Bruins
Elias Pettersson, C, Vancouver Canucks
Mikko Rantanen, RW, Carolina Hurricanes
There’s probably no better compliment to the intelligence of Carolina GM Eric Tulsky than having half of hockey media assuming that he’ll trade Mikko Rantanen before March 7 if the Hurricanes can’t sign the pending free agent to an extension. Tulsky is playing multidimensional chess, contemplating a second blockbuster Rantanen trade within the span of two months rather that keeping the elite scoring winger, whose postseason production was a primary facet of his appeal.
Look, this might end up being a bad take, but I’m not buying the idea that the Hurricanes traded Martin Necas for a negotiating window with Rantanen. They’re trying to win the Stanley Cup this season — heck, they’d be happy just to play for one under coach Rod Brind’Amour. Their best chance to do so is with Rantanen, rather than with whatever they’d get back for him at the deadline.
They made a hard sell to him last weekend on a rich, long-term deal. If he signs before March 7, the conversation’s over. If he doesn’t, it still makes too much sense for Carolina to hang on to him for a Cup run. But so many in the NHL believe there’s a chance they’ll trade him again if there’s no contract, so he must be included here.
As mentioned earlier, the rise in the salary cap makes a Jones trade plausible. He told the Chicago Sun-Times that he has discussed being traded from the rebuilding Blackhawks, later elaborating that his timeline as a 30-year-old defenseman doesn’t sync with the franchise’s current trajectory. GM Kyle Davidson, meanwhile, is trying to satiate his young phenom Connor Bedard by surrounding him with NHL talent and pushing toward playoff contention — two aims that trading Jones would seem not to serve.
Jones has a full no-movement clause and a $9.5 million cap hit through 2029-30, a term that makes salary retention here a little hard to fathom for Chicago. Speculation has ranged from a trade to his native Texas with the Dallas Stars to a move to the Florida Panthers, reuniting him with GM Bill Zito from their days in Columbus. Jones and former teammate Zach Werenski also put a reunion with the Blue Jackets into the discourse.
Marchand, 36, is in the last year of a contract with a very thrifty AAV ($6.125 million) and has only an eight-team no-trade clause. Boston GM Don Sweeney has said contract talks are ongoing with Marchand’s camp. He had indicated the Bruins would take a “cautious approach” at the deadline, which many interpreted as “we will not be a buyer.” Does that mean trading Marchand as a pivot to the future?
The Bruins’ captain hasn’t wavered about wanting to play his entire career in Boston. “They’re aware of that. I think everyone’s aware of that. It’s a gift to be playing for this team and I take a tremendous amount of pride in that,” he said recently. But as Ray Bourque will tell you, sometimes “Bruins for life” end up being the final piece in someone else’s championship puzzle.
Ekblad is also on an expiring contract. The 29-year-old defenseman has 26 points in 50 games this season. There was a report last summer that the Panthers were “shopping” Ekblad ahead of his contract year, but he’s on the record as wanting to remain in Florida. He also told the Miami Herald that he’s not worried about the timing of a contract extension given how Zito waited in the past to get deals done with players such as Sam Reinhart.
It’s hard to imagine Ekblad moving on before the offseason, as the Panthers’ blue line is thin offensively, and they have designs on a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. But that’s an aggressive front office.
Karlsson, 34, saw his stock rise during the 4 Nations Face-Off with a vintage performance, reminding everyone what he can do when motivated. He has 40 points in 60 games for the Penguins, whom Josh Yohe of The Athletic said are shopping the three-time Norris Trophy winner. They’d have to retain money on his $10 million annual cap hit through 2026-27. But Karlsson’s actual salary dips to $9 million next season and $7.5 million in 2026-27. This could end up being a summer move, if he moves at all.
Earlier this season, Rangers GM Chris Drury circulated a memo to his 31 peers that his team was looking to trade. It mentioned two players by name: Jacob Trouba, who was traded to Anaheim, and Kreider, 33, who has a $6.5 million cap hit through 2026-27 and a 15-team no-trade list. Was his inclusion a scare tactic to wake up the struggling team? Or a harbinger of another core-altering move by Drury? Kreider has only 21 points in 48 games during an injury-plagued, disappointing season.
When the Rangers acquired J.T. Miller from Vancouver, it was meant to unburden Pettersson of his locker room feud and allow the star center to find his game again. Since that trade, Pettersson has three assists and zero goals through eight games. Coach Rick Tocchet has called out his lack of confidence. He has only 11 goals in 51 games.
Pettersson is in the first season of an eight-year contract that carries an $11.6 million annual cap hit. Vancouver engaged in trade talks about Pettersson concurrent to those regarding Miller. His no-movement clause kicks in this summer. How much runway will the Canucks give him before making a call on his future? If they do trade him, it would be at the ebb of his value — his disappearing act in the 4 Nations Face-Off didn’t help.
Elite pending free agent tier
Brock Boeser, RW, Vancouver Canucks
Yanni Gourde, C, Seattle Kraken
Brock Nelson, C, New York Islanders
Gustav Nyquist, RW, Nashville Predators
Kyle Palmieri, RW, New York Islanders
Ivan Provorov, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
Boeser, 28, has a $6.65 million cap hit. He has 18 goals and 17 assists in 50 games this season after topping 40 goals for the first time last season. He played in 81 games, which speaks to how he has shaken off questions about his durability. The Canucks are listening on him, but it makes more sense to them to hang onto Boeser.
That said, there’s not been much traction on a contract. “I love it in Vancouver. So, yeah, it’s actually frustrating that nothing’s got done,” he told Sportsnet this week. “Obviously, it’s not all out of my control.”
If GM Lou Lamoriello decides it’s time to break up the band, both Palmieri and Nelson will fetch a healthy return — especially Nelson, whose 200-foot game could benefit a variety of contenders. Even if half the NHL has already fantasy-cast the 33-year-old Warroad native to join the Minnesota Wild at the deadline.
Palmieri has 17 goals in 57 games. Nyquist, another veteran scoring winger, has only nine goals in 56 games, joining the rest of the Nashville roster in underachieving this season.
Gourde could return to the lineup right before the trade deadline after sports hernia surgery. He has 16 points in 35 games, but his greatest utility is as a bottom-six defensive forward, the role he played on two Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup winners.
Provorov could draw interest as a solid defender balanced with a mobile offensive game (27 points), one who averages 23:38 of ice time in Columbus. But with the Blue Jackets contending, and Provorov as an occasional partner of star defenseman Zach Werenski, Columbus might prefer to keep him.
Elite players with term tier
Brandon Carlo, D, Boston Bruins
Mario Ferraro, D, San Jose Sharks
Mike Matheson, D, Montreal Canadiens
Casey Mittelstadt, C, Colorado Avalanche
Ryan O’Reilly, C, Nashville Predators
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, C, New York Islanders
Rickard Rakell, LW/RW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Rasmus Ristolainen, D, Philadelphia Flyers
Brayden Schenn, C, St. Louis Blues
Carson Soucy, D, Vancouver Canucks
Alex Tuch, RW, Buffalo Sabres
There are a few names on this list for whom it would take a whale of an offer to pry them from their current teams. The Penguins would prefer to hang onto Rakell, 31, who has 49 points in 50 games. Ditto the Sabres and Tuch, who has 20 goals in 56 games and can also kill penalties. The 28-year-old is signed through next season ($4.75 million AAV) but wants to be part of the solution for that seemingly impossible riddle in Buffalo.
Matheson, 30, is signed through next season at $4.875 million AAV with a limited no-trade clause. He has 25 points in 56 games, a pace that is down from last season. But that’s a symptom of his power-play time dropping from 3:41 to 2:14, thanks in no small part to the emergence of rookie sensation Lane Hutson. That said, Matheson is the ice-time leader in Montreal (24:38). The Habs might need some convincing to move him.
Schenn, 33, has 34 points in 59 games this season and is signed through 2027-28 with a $6.5 million cap hit and a no-trade clause. He’s a core player with the Blues, but trading him would fit into a grand St. Louis tradition of players getting the captaincy and then playing elsewhere a few seasons later. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been heavily speculated as a potential landing spot.
One of those former Blues captains is O’Reilly, in his second season with the Predators (34 points in 54 games). Teams have inquired about him, but the 34-year-old has two more years at $4.5 million AAV left after this one. If Nashville is retooling this summer rather than tearing it down, O’Reilly could remain part of its core.
Schenn and O’Reilly might be sought after at the deadline because of how thin the market for centers is this season. The same could be said of Pageau’s availability ($5 million AAV through 2025-26), and his 16-team no-trade list. The 32-year-old has only 27 points in 54 games but can play on the power play and penalty kill. (Although the less said about the Islanders’ penalty kill this season, the better).
The Avalanche traded Bowen Byram to acquire Mittelstadt last season, but Mittelstadt has only 32 points in 59 games this season, skating to a minus-13. There’s increased speculation around the league that the Avs could move him again during the first year of a three-year deal they handed him ($5.75 million AAV). One assumes that’d happen if and when Colorado addresses its hole at No. 2 center.
There’s a lot to like about Ferraro, the 26-year-old blueliner for the Sharks. He’s not an offensive dynamo — his 21 points last season was his career high — but he blocks shots and kills penalties. He also makes just $3.25 million against the cap through next season, and has the kind of personality that’d make him an instant fan favorite wherever he goes. That said, it has been a down season for him on a terrible team. Could a change of scenery turn that around?
Teams that want a bigger defenseman can ponder Ristolainen (6-foot-4) and Soucy (6-5). The Flyers’ defenseman can throw the body but hasn’t been a viable point producer since 2019-20. He makes $5.1 million against the cap through 2026-27, and Kevin Kurz of The Athletic recently reported that the Flyers “haven’t gotten many calls” on him.
Soucy is in the second season of a three-year deal ($3.25 million AAV). Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says he believes the Canucks have made him available after acquiring Marcus Pettersson from the Penguins earlier this season.
Carlo, 28, is another player with a big frame (6-5), and a cut above both Ristolainen and Soucey as a defensive defenseman — although like every Bruin, this season has been an up-and-down ride. He’s signed through 2026-27 ($4.1 million AAV). He’s a solid penalty killer, a top-pairing partner, a player with 72 games of playoff experience and one with whatever mystique the Bruins still conjure.
The 25-and-under tier
Bowen Byram, D, Buffalo Sabres
Dylan Cozens, C, Buffalo Sabres
Noah Dobson, D, New York Islanders
Mason Lohrei, D, Boston Bruins
Matias Maccelli, LW, Utah Hockey Club
Mason McTavish, C, Anaheim Ducks
K’Andre Miller, D, New York Rangers
Josh Norris, C, Ottawa Senators
Nicholas Robertson, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
Trevor Zegras, C, Anaheim Ducks
Not many NHL players have seen their stars fade as quickly as Zegras, who went from the trick-shot creating video game cover athlete to a struggling Duck (13 goals in his past 65 games) who can’t stay in the lineup. But he’s only 23, and there are plenty of people around the NHL who feel that extracting him from Anaheim and putting him in the right formative environment will unlock his talent.
“You need to put him on a team with a star player who will outwork him. That’s the only way you fix him,” one NHL executive said.
McTavish, 22, is another Duck with diminishing returns. His points per 60 minutes have tumbled year over year. He’s another player where a change of scenery could unlock new levels of his game. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes heard McTavish trade buzz in December.
McTavish is a pending restricted free agent. So is Miller, another player whose name has been “out there” in trade chatter, according to Weekes. The 25-year-old defenseman has 14 points in 52 games, skating 21:44 per game.
The Senators are in a tight playoff race in the East, which doesn’t usually lead to a team being a deadline dealer. But Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reported last month that “league executives say the Senators would like to get Norris and his $7.95 million salary cap hit off the books, but not many teams can take on that contract without giving Ottawa something back.” Norris, a 25-year-old center who has 31 points in 50 games, is signed through 2029-30.
Dobson’s availability might be a surprise to some, considering he was a 70-point defenseman last season who flirted with Norris Trophy contention. But he’s a pending RFA who recently changed agents to the Wasserman Group, which also represents players such as Werenski. That’s probably a move made with a new contract with the Islanders in mind, but there has been trade buzz about Dobson for months.
Lohrei’s name is out there, but that could be wishful thinking from teams hoping to get a 23-year-old defenseman with offensive upside (27 points in 54 games) at the deadline in a Bruins’ retool. He’s a pending RFA this summer.
The same could be said of Cozens, the Sabres’ 24-year-old center. His seven-year contract extension started in 2023-24, but his production since then has been inconsistent: After scoring 31 goals in 81 games to earn that contract, he has scored 29 goals in his next 135 games. His size (6-3), age and contract term ($7.1 million AAV through 2029-30) make him an obvious target for other teams.
Byram is also a player the Sabres get calls on as a pending RFA on a blue line that already has three players signed through 2029-30. He has 29 points in 56 games, playing the most ice time per game (23:10) of his five-year NHL career. If Buffalo has a chance to acquire a game-changer, Byram could be a player going the other way.
Robertson is another “means to an end” player. The 23-year-old has a ton of potential as a goal-scoring winger but hasn’t broken through in the Leafs’ lineup. He’s a restricted free agent after the season. It’s easy to see Toronto including him in a deal for an area of need.
Maccelli, 24, has had a bumpy transition from Tempe to Salt Lake City. The playmaking forward had 57 points in 82 games last season as an Arizona Coyote, and only 18 points in 52 games so far for Utah. His average ice time is under 14 minutes and he has been a healthy scratch on occasion.
The goalie tier
Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
Alexandar Georgiev, San Jose Sharks
John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
Alex Nedeljkovic, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vitek Vanecek, San Jose Sharks
Karel Vejmelka, Utah Hockey Club
Dan Vladar, Calgary Flames
The 4 Nations Face-Off was the full Binnington experience. He gave up a few goals that made one wonder if he should remain Team Canada’s starter and then, when it mattered most, he turned into Dominik Hasek. There’s a reason coach Jon Cooper stuck with him: His best moments can be game-saving.
If the Blues were ever going to move Binnington, now’s the time. He has two more seasons at $6 million AAV with limited (but still substantial) trade protection (18 teams on the no-go list). He turns 32 in July. It would take an offer that convinces the Blues to destabilize their goaltending battery and trade away a player who backstopped them to a Stanley Cup. It would also depend on whether the Blues are retooling or rebuilding in the short term.
The Edmonton Oilers have been mentioned as a potential landing spot, although that would require some salary cap gymnastics and, more importantly, Doug Armstrong and Stan Bowman doing business after last summer’s RFA offer sheets by the Blues.
The Oilers have also been linked to Gibson, another goalie that would require some cap flexibility. The Ducks netminder’s $6.4 million AAV through 2026-27 is certainly more palatable under the increased cap. The 31-year-old is also having his best season in years, with a .916 save percentage and 9.4 goals saved above expected. Don’t sleep on the Hurricanes as a potential landing spot for Gibson.
Vejmelka doesn’t have the name recognition of Binnington or Gibson, but he has been the better goalie this season based on the metrics: 10.8 goals saved above expected for Utah. At $2.725 million AAV and an expiring contact, he’s an ideal short-term solution for contending teams looking to bolster a tandem — now paging the Edmonton Oilers. Utah is in the wild-card race (21.1% chance of making the cut). Playing games with playoff implications in a burgeoning market might be more important than getting more future assets for Vejmelka.
Vanecek ($3.4 million AAV) and Vladar ($2.2 million AAV) are both complementary goalies on expiring contracts. It’s hard to imagine the Flames would break up their tandem with a wild-card spot in their sights. Nedeljkovic is signed through next season at $2.5 million AAV. Of the Penguins three goalies this season, he has been the least terrible.
Georgiev is also an unrestricted free agent this summer, playing through an atrocious season (.876 combined save percentage between Colorado and San Jose). He makes $2.924 million against the cap, and was a playoff starter the past two seasons.
Help up front tier
Josh Anderson, RW, Montreal Canadiens
Joel Armia, RW, Montreal Canadiens
Nick Bjugstad, C, Utah Hockey Club
Lawson Crouse, LW, Utah Hockey Club
Ryan Donato, LW, Chicago Blackhawks
Christian Dvorak, C, Montreal Canadiens
Radek Faksa, C, St. Louis Blues
Jordan Greenway, RW, Buffalo Sabres
Alex Kerfoot, C, Utah Hockey Club
Andrei Kuzmenko, LW, Philadelphia Flyers
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, RW, Buffalo Sabres
Luke Kunin, C, San Jose Sharks
Pat Maroon, RW, Chicago Blackhawks
Reilly Smith, LW, New York Rangers
Nico Sturm, C, San Jose Sharks
Brandon Tanev, LW, Seattle Kraken
A few names of particular interest here:
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Tanev is the type of tenacious forechecker teams love to add at the deadline. His $3.5 million AAV is a little rich for the role, but the Kraken should find any number of contenders interested.
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Donato ($2 million AAV) is having himself a contract year, setting a career high of 19 goals in 56 games for the Blackhawks. This should be a win for GM Kyle Davidson, who signed him as a free agent and should get a decent pick for him at the deadline.
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Faksa ($3.25 million AAV) would seem to be an ideal trade target for a contending team: He has a big body, a great work ethic and playoff experience. But the Blues reportedly really like him.
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The trio of Utah players are here, but again the Hockey Club might want to stand pat in the middle of a playoff race. Bjugstad and Kerfoot are on expiring contracts. Crouse is signed for two more seasons beyond this one ($4.3 million AAV) but has really struggled in his first season in SLC (13 points in 58 games). The 4 Nations break might have done him good, as Crouse has looked more engaged and scored a goal against Chicago on Tuesday.
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Kuzmenko was acquired from the Flames in the deal that saw Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee go to Calgary. The 29-year-old winger is a UFA, has a $5.5 million AAV and a limited no-trade clause. Philly could get some calls on him, but they also could decide the need the rest of the season to see what they have in the goal-scoring Russian. (Which, in the end, might be someone to help their much younger goal-scoring Russian, Matvei Michkov).
Help on the blue line tier
Robert Bortuzzo, Utah Hockey Club
Ian Cole, Utah Hockey Club
Brian Dumoulin, Anaheim Ducks
Jeremy Lauzon, Nashville Predators
Ryan Lindgren, New York Rangers
Olli Maatta, Utah Hockey Club
Connor Murphy, Chicago Blackhawks
Alec Martinez, Chicago Blackhawks
Jamie Oleksiak, Seattle Kraken
David Savard, Montreal Canadiens
Ryan Suter, St. Louis Blues
From this list, the notable names include:
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Lindgren, 27, has been in the rumor mill for most of the season. He makes $4.5 million against the cap and is a UFA this summer. The consensus around the Rangers is that this is a player who could bring value back at the deadline and plays a position New York should look to upgrade.
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For the Blackhawks, keeping Murphy around might make more sense than dealing him now, especially because his $4.4 million cap hit and expiring contract status make him more attractive to other teams in 2025-26. As for Martinez, he’s a three-time Stanley Cup champion who would be ideal for a contender. But The Athletic reports that both he and forward Pat Maroon probably will be traded only if they sign off on a move.
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It wouldn’t be a trade deadline without Savard’s name out there. He can play both sides and makes $3.5 million against the cap. Stu Cowen of the Montreal Gazette said Savard “will almost certainly get traded.”
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Is this a Penguins alumni meeting? Bortuzzo, Cole, Dumoulin, Maatta and Oleksiak all spent significant time with Pittsburgh.
Players with bargain contracts tier
Anthony Beauvillier, LW, Pittsburgh Penguins
Justin Brazeau, RW, Boston Bruins
Jake Evans, C/RW, Montreal Canadiens
Trent Frederic, C, Boston Bruins
Scott Laughton, C, Philadelphia Flyers
Jeremy Lauzon, D, Nashville Predators
Michael McCarron, C, Nashville Predators
Mathieu Olivier, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets
Evans, Frederic and Laughton are the three players with the most trade buzz here. Evans would be a cost-effective ($1.7 million AAV) energy player in a contender’s bottom six. Canadiens beat writer Arpon Basu has floated the idea of a team acquiring Evans and forward Joel Armia ($3.4 million AAV) as a package deal, as they form an effective penalty killing duo for Montreal.
Laughton’s name was prominently featured at last season’s trade deadline for the same reason it is this year: He’s a tenacious glue guy who can also contribute offensively (27 points in 56 games) down the lineup. He makes $3 million annually against the cap over the next two seasons.
Frederic has eight goals and seven assists in 57 games this season but had an 18-goal campaign last season. He’s big (6-3, 220 pounds) and tough to play against as a checking center. He makes $2.3 million against the cap on an expiring contract. Also interesting from the Bruins: Brazeau, 27, who has 10 goals and 10 assists in 54 games, and makes just $775,000.
Olivier is coveted by some teams for his energy and willingness to mix it up, to the tune of 99 penalty minutes. This season, he added a little offense, with 11 goals. Add in his $1.1 million cap hit and expiring contract, and he’s a classic trade deadline dandy if the Jackets want to move him. McCarron, a 6-6 Predators forward, also fits that role. He had 12 goals and 100 penalty minutes last season. He’s signed through next season at a $900,000 cap hit.
These aren’t the biggest names available at the trade deadline, but sometimes it’s the little moves that matter most for a championship run.
Of course, another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes NHL trade deadline moves set up success beyond this postseason. Recall 2021, when the Florida Panthers acquired defenseman Brandon Montour and center Sam Bennett at the deadline. Three years later, they lifted the Stanley Cup.